Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got a speech from HOS at our independent school, grades will be a thing of the past.
They are following the example of Andover, Exeter, etc...
So not only are they dropping AP, they are going to get rid of grades entirely.

What say you DCUM hive?

I think this wonderful -- very progressive. Any child gaining acceptance to an elite private in the first place is bound to perform well anyway. Bravo!

See, this is the bias that is BS.

Anonymous wrote:... this is a move to get rid of standardized metrics, that measure, well, merit....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard alum here. Always A-/A student. Feared the possibility of Bs. Used to scoff at mythical stories of how one can drop classes while taking the final exam at Brown or Stanford. Fast forward to grad school which was 100% pass/fail -- LOVED the experience. It's true what they say about taking more risks and going beyond comfort level. If I could send my child to a K-12 or college that had predominantly pass/fail grading system, I absolutely would choose that school over another school that produced students with a weighed GPA of 4.9.

Of course, this would only work at great schools with amazing teachers and students who cared about learning.

that's all fine and dandy but how are potential colleges/employers to differentiate? if everyone "passes" at an academic level, then it becomes whomever has better connections, a more quirky story etc. (i.e. something the wealthy are more well-equipped to manipulate.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got a speech from HOS at our independent school, grades will be a thing of the past.
They are following the example of Andover, Exeter, etc...
So not only are they dropping AP, they are going to get rid of grades entirely.

What say you DCUM hive?

I think this wonderful -- very progressive. Any child gaining acceptance to an elite private in the first place is bound to perform well anyway. Bravo!

See, this is the bias that is BS.

Agree this is total BS. My kid left DCPS for a Big3 for high school and we had no idea how he/she would perform. Turns out she/he is performing at the top of the class.
My eyes are opened that a lot of the kids at these top schools are not genius level kids but are there because of other reasons: early childhood admissions, legacy status, sports, siblings, VIPs--the list goes on and on. I knew this in theory but now that I have a kid there I'm seeing it play out. My kid works reasonably hard but isn't a genius and was able to quite easily rise to the top of the cohort. There are a lot of kids in these schools that aren't academic overachievers at all.

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... this is a move to get rid of standardized metrics, that measure, well, merit....

This is quite a statement. Not even the College Board contends that the SAT measures "merit."

Three years ago, when my daughter was just beginning a college search, an associate admission director at a "most-competitive" college made several comments downplaying their reliance on standardized tests. I asked during the Q&A, "You've spent some time explaining that standardized tests are not a primary criterion for admission. What information *do* you gain from SAT and ACT scores? What do those test scores tell you about applicants? In short, why do you require them?"

She was silent for a very long time — perhaps 15 seconds — before saying that she didn't really know. If an admission officer at a highly competitive school can't (or won't) tell us what she learns from standardized test results, I'm not sure what "merit" they're measuring.

Standardized tests provide a reasonably accurate measure of a specific skill set. I am not opposed to the tests per se; I am opposed to using them to draw conclusions beyond the skill set they assess effectively. I believe this is seldom discussed, in part because it is manifestly in the interest of test publishers to remain silent, allowing students and parents to interpret those scores in terms of "intelligence," "achievement," and "merit."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got a speech from HOS at our independent school, grades will be a thing of the past.
They are following the example of Andover, Exeter, etc...
So not only are they dropping AP, they are going to get rid of grades entirely.

What say you DCUM hive?

I think this wonderful -- very progressive. Any child gaining acceptance to an elite private in the first place is bound to perform well anyway. Bravo!

See, this is the bias that is BS.

Agree this is total BS. My kid left DCPS for a Big3 for high school and we had no idea how he/she would perform. Turns out she/he is performing at the top of the class.
My eyes are opened that a lot of the kids at these top schools are not genius level kids but are there because of other reasons: early childhood admissions, legacy status, sports, siblings, VIPs--the list goes on and on. I knew this in theory but now that I have a kid there I'm seeing it play out. My kid works reasonably hard but isn't a genius and was able to quite easily rise to the top of the cohort. There are a lot of kids in these schools that aren't academic overachievers at all.

Agree.

wash DC private school environment is not intellectually merit based nor even close to the demands or academic student body caliber of NE boarding schools or top NYC private schools or large city magnet public programs.

We were hoping it wouldn’t be that since we like the well-rounded curriculum but the robustness is not there. And we are not in the upper school yet. Student body at the lower years was based on peanuts concerned for behavior or attention issues, and tradition (parent went there, lots is wealth so why not).

Anonymous wrote:I was so glad when they got rid of class rankings. And AP classes. Getting rid of grades is wonderful news. LET'S KEEP IT GOING! Here's what else they should dump:

1. homework
2. tests
3. teachers
4. classes
5. attendance records
6. schools as physical places you have to visit
7. books
8. things students are required to do
9. learning

Only then will elite schools truly be elite!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was so glad when they got rid of class rankings. And AP classes. Getting rid of grades is wonderful news. LET'S KEEP IT GOING! Here's what else they should dump:

1. homework
2. tests
3. teachers
4. classes
5. attendance records
6. schools as physical places you have to visit
7. books
8. things students are required to do
9. learning

Only then will elite schools truly be elite!

This is the best way to guarantee only the children of the privileged will be able to go.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got a speech from HOS at our independent school, grades will be a thing of the past.
They are following the example of Andover, Exeter, etc...
So not only are they dropping AP, they are going to get rid of grades entirely.

What say you DCUM hive?

I think this wonderful -- very progressive. Any child gaining acceptance to an elite private in the first place is bound to perform well anyway. Bravo!

See, this is the bias that is BS.

Agree this is total BS. My kid left DCPS for a Big3 for high school and we had no idea how he/she would perform. Turns out she/he is performing at the top of the class.
My eyes are opened that a lot of the kids at these top schools are not genius level kids but are there because of other reasons: early childhood admissions, legacy status, sports, siblings, VIPs--the list goes on and on. I knew this in theory but now that I have a kid there I'm seeing it play out. My kid works reasonably hard but isn't a genius and was able to quite easily rise to the top of the cohort. There are a lot of kids in these schools that aren't academic overachievers at all.

Agree.

wash DC private school environment is not intellectually merit based nor even close to the demands or academic student body caliber of NE boarding schools or top NYC private schools or large city magnet public programs.

We were hoping it wouldn’t be that since we like the well-rounded curriculum but the robustness is not there. And we are not in the upper school yet. Student body at the lower years was based on peanuts concerned for behavior or attention issues, and tradition (parent went there, lots is wealth so why not).

DC doesn't have the same private school culture that NYC or NE has. Sidwell could probably compete with some of those schools, but we are a newer city in a lot of ways. If you like NE boardng schools better than our local privates and/or publics, then send your kids there.

Anonymous wrote:These schools do nothing-nothing-if it doesn't improve their competitive position for college admissions. Any big change they contemplate has to be viewed through that lens.

They are abandoning grades because it will make it harder to perform apples-to-apples comparisons between their students and graded programs in public schools. All that admissions offices will have to go on will be 1)"portfolios" of academic work that can only be assembled through a labor-intensive instructional model more like personal coaching than regular teaching, and 2) extracurricular resumes packed with the sort of activities unavailable to a poor or middle class student focused on academics: "I see here that little Brimsby/Muffy/Preston/Chip/ founded an NGO and went to Peru to provide aid to earthquake-displaced capybaras. How enterprising!"

There was a time when simply graduating a "Philips Academy man" will be enough to demonstrate you were "Harvard material". We seem to be headed back in that direction.

Anonymous wrote:I was so glad when they got rid of class rankings. And AP classes. Getting rid of grades is wonderful news. LET'S KEEP IT GOING! Here's what else they should dump:

1. homework
2. tests
3. teachers
4. classes
5. attendance records
6. schools as physical places you have to visit
7. books
8. things students are required to do
9. learning

Only then will elite schools truly be elite!

Anonymous wrote:

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... this is a move to get rid of standardized metrics, that measure, well, merit....

This is quite a statement. Not even the College Board contends that the SAT measures "merit."

Three years ago, when my daughter was just beginning a college search, an associate admission director at a "most-competitive" college made several comments downplaying their reliance on standardized tests. I asked during the Q&A, "You've spent some time explaining that standardized tests are not a primary criterion for admission. What information *do* you gain from SAT and ACT scores? What do those test scores tell you about applicants? In short, why do you require them?"

She was silent for a very long time — perhaps 15 seconds — before saying that she didn't really know. If an admission officer at a highly competitive school can't (or won't) tell us what she learns from standardized test results, I'm not sure what "merit" they're measuring.

Standardized tests provide a reasonably accurate measure of a specific skill set. I am not opposed to the tests per se; I am opposed to using them to draw conclusions beyond the skill set they assess effectively. I believe this is seldom discussed, in part because it is manifestly in the interest of test publishers to remain silent, allowing students and parents to interpret those scores in terms of "intelligence," "achievement," and "merit."

Yes, it measures how well someone can take a standardized test. Not a really important metric to be successful in the real world.

pbraverman wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... this is a move to get rid of standardized metrics, that measure, well, merit....

This is quite a statement. Not even the College Board contends that the SAT measures "merit."

Three years ago, when my daughter was just beginning a college search, an associate admission director at a "most-competitive" college made several comments downplaying their reliance on standardized tests. I asked during the Q&A, "You've spent some time explaining that standardized tests are not a primary criterion for admission. What information *do* you gain from SAT and ACT scores? What do those test scores tell you about applicants? In short, why do you require them?"

She was silent for a very long time — perhaps 15 seconds — before saying that she didn't really know. If an admission officer at a highly competitive school can't (or won't) tell us what she learns from standardized test results, I'm not sure what "merit" they're measuring.